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Hurricane Michael (2018)
Hurricane Michael was the very first Category 6 to ever hit the Atlantic. It was the most intense hurricane ever recorded, the most intense hurricane to hit the United States, the most expensive and deadly hurricane ever, and the largest hurricane in diameter. It was the 15th Tropical Depression, 13th named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season, causing widespread shock, devastation, and fatality across the Atlantic and Gulf Coast. It is also the first hurricane to ever resurge in a completely different place. It hit every state that bordered the Atlantic Ocean south of Maryland and every state that bordered the Gulf of Mexico. It developed as a Tropical Depression off the coast of Morocco on October 12, 2018 and became a Category 2 hurricane within days. Later on October 16, 2016, it strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane and the next day, was a Category 5 hurricane, roaring at 180 mph winds. On the 18th, it roared even stronger, hitting new high winds of 200 mph, and a few days later, it shot up to 220 mph. After it was confirmed that it had hit a high of a whopping 240 mph, the NHC classified it as the first ever Category 6 hurricane, headed straight for the Atlantic Coast. It made landfall in North Carolina on October 20, 2018 and whipped the states of South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida on the way into land. By late October 21, 2018, it had calmed down to a Category 2 storm, but was still lashing out at everything imaginable. Early morning on October 22, 2018, it was down to a Tropical Storm. Then it took an unexpected turn and began headed back for the Atlantic coastline. When it got there, it immediately strengthened back to a Category 1 hurricane. It started going south, whipping the Atlantic coast some more as it strengthened back to a Category 3 hurricane by October 25, 2018. It then swerved around Florida as it went back up to a Category 5 Hurricane and struck Cuba on its way around. It strayed as close to the Gulf coast as it could without the eye actually weakening, attacking the small coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and eventually, the large coasts of Louisiana and Texas, before making its second official landfall in Texas as a Category 6 hurricane again, with wind speeds of 250 mph, on October 28, 2018. It ravaged the Texan coastline making sure to destroy everything in its path and was downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane on October 30, 2018. It finally died off on November 2, 2018, but its mark was felt. Meteorological History The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noticed a small tropical wave right off the coast of Morocco on the 10th of October, 2018. 2 days later, they began to notice storms associated with it and some time later, saw it began to coalesce into a tropical storm and called it Tropical Storm Michael at 21:00 UTC on October 12, believing that it would follow in the footsteps of the previous 12 tropical storms and dissipate before it became a hurricane. As they watched it develop, they noticed its wind speed increasing and watched as it hit 74 mph on October 16, and classified it as Hurricane Michael, the first hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic season. It quickly intensified as later that same day to 100 mph winds and then jumping up to 121 mph winds, making it the first major hurricane of the season. On October 17, it reached winds of 180 mph, and became a Category 5 storm just three days before projected landfall. It began to trek northward and aimed itself right at the East Coast of the United States, the Carolinas. The open Atlantic gave it more favorable conditions as on October 18, winds hit 200 mph, making it the strongest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. Catastrophe was projected for much of the east coast as not only did it have strong winds, but a large diameter of 1,012 miles, the largest ever. On October 19, winds were roaring at 220 mph, and the NHC started to struggle to justify keeping this in the same categories of Irma, Matthew, or Katrina. It continued to strengthen and trek its way to North and South Carolina with no way to stop. Later on the 19th, the governors of both states declared a state of emergency and ordered an evacuation of 9.6 million people, the largest evacuation in U.S. history for any reason. The Virginia governor and the Georgia governor waited a few hours before doing likewise. On October 20, 10 hours before landfall, the NHC came out and stated that this is the first ever Category 6 hurricane in history, as winds had erupted to 240 mph. Michael made first landfall in North Carolina on October 20, and destroyed everything in its path. It continued its trek, weakening to Category 3 by the 21st and then a Category 1 later that day. On the 22nd, it had finally been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it left destruction in its path. It took a weird turn on the 22nd, as it started limping its way back to the Atlantic. It reached the Atlantic on the 23rd, and immediately strengthened back to a Category 2 hurricane before turning south. It started whipping the coast of Florida on its outskirts and strengthened back to a Category 3 hurricane. On the 25th, it swerved around Florida and started to make Category 2 landfall on Cuba and the bottom of Florida. On the 27th, Michael started passing along the Gulf coast punishing Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana before attacking Texas as a Category 6 hurricane on the 28th. It caused catastrophic damage in the Houston area as well as in Dallas and San Antonio. By the 29th, it was a Category 3 storm, and by the 1st, it was back down to Tropical Storm levels. On the 2nd, it had officially dissipated for good. Preparations Mainland United States South Carolina In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency for the entire state on the 17th and had ordered evacuations. States were closed on the 18th and every office was closed on the 17th. Any and all tolls on toll roads were suspended starting October 17th, and the state had all but cleared out. On the 19th, all mayors of South Carolina had ordered everyone to evacuate their respective cities and had moved out. After the evacuations, few people were left. On the 20th, landfall was made in Myrtle Beach, SC, and the hurricane ravaged every building and the few remaining people who had not evacuated, all of whom died. North Carolina Like its southern counterpart, North Carolina had a state of emergency declared by its mayor, Roy Cooper on the 17th. Charlotte, Raleigh, and every major city had evacuations ordered on the 18th and schools, universities, and public offices were closed. On the 18th, each city had few remaining citizens, like South Carolina, but there were more. Skyscrapers, buildings, and beaches alike were destroyed in the ensuing deluge. Virginia Virginia's governor, Terry McAuliffe also declared a state of emergency, and evacuations were imminent. The panhandle was not as profoundly affected, but they evacuated for obvious safety reasons. As previously mentioned with North and South Carolina, schools, universities, and public offices were closed in anticipation of the imminent storm. Nobody was left in Virginia. Every skyscraper, house, and farm was destroyed by the hurricane. Georgia Nathan Deal, Georgia's governor was the last governor to declare a state of emergency from the initial landfall, on the 19th. Evacuations came later on the 19th, and Atlanta was completely shut down. The Atlanta Falcons' game was postponed to a later date, as were the Atlanta Hawks' games. Little remained of downtown Atlanta except for the strong skyscrapers afterward. Florida Rick Scott issued an unexpected state of emergency declaration on the 23rd when Michael made it back to the Atlantic. No evacuations took place as it was the edge of Michael that hit Florida. However, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld all closed due to some flooding on the 24th. Alabama Alabama was the first of three affected states to not declare a state of emergency over the hurricane. Mobile beaches were closed and schools were closed from Birmingham south due to flooding on the 25th and 26th. Mississippi Schools from Jackson south were closed due to severe flooding on the 26th. Louisiana New Orleans was completely evacuated on the 27th due to severe flooding and several college games were cancelled due to inclement weather as well. Texas Greg Abbott, governor of Texas declared a state of emergency for the state of Texas on the 27th as the eye of Hurricane Michael was headed for Texas. Houston and Dallas were evacuated and the Houston Texans had their game cancelled. As Hurricane Michael downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane, San Antonio and El Paso evacuated as well. Cuba Raúl Castro declared a state of emergency for the country of Cuba on the 24th, but no evacuations were ordered. Impact __FORCETOC__ Category:Atlantic hurricanes Category:Deadly storms Category:Destructive storms Category:Category 6 hurricane Category:Strong Storms